You are here

Other Intiatives & Collaborations

The University of Toronto Youth Summer Program

The Youth Summer Program (YSP) is open to all students in grades 10-12, from anywhere in the world, who are interested in an intensive law and justice program during the summer. Presented by the University of Toronto, the YSP offers five different weeks - Criminal Law, International Law, Corporate Law, Tort Law/Medical Malpractice, and Rights and Freedoms Law. Participating students can spend between one and five weeks at the Faculty of Law learning advanced legal concepts and applying their knowledge in a variety of fun and stimulating ways—including a very engaging crime investigation and mock trial. Students live in a University of Toronto student residence during their YSP participation.

A limited number of full scholarships are available for individual YSP weeks. Visit the YSP website to learn more.

Aboriginal Youth Summer Program

The Aboriginal Youth Summer Program (AYSP) is offered by the U of T Faculty of Law and Osgoode Hall Law School for Aboriginal high school students who are interested in the study of law. Selected students spend a week living on-campus at U of T and learning about various aspects of the study of law, and how they intertwine with issues affecting Aboriginal Peoples. The Faculty is pleased to offer fully-subsidized spots to over thirty Aboriginal youth in the summer of 2012.

The AYSP offers an unprecedented opportunity to spend time in the fascinating world of Canadian and international law, legal thinking and advocacy. Taught by law students, professors, judges and lawyers, topics include criminal justice, such as sentencing and bail under Gladue court principles; property and Aboriginal title; constitutional law and the rights of Indigenous Peoples; international Aboriginal law; and intersections between Wampum and the common law. Students observe these principles in action with field trips to such places as Toronto’s Old City Hall Courthouse, Gladue Court, and Aboriginal law firms.

In addition to the enriching academic content, students get a taste of university life, with classes held in law classrooms at the U of T Faculty of Law (led by law students from both U of T and Osgoode), overnight stays at New College and participating in events that showcase the immeasurable cultural opportunities offered by city of Toronto.

LAWS collaborates with the Law and Youth Workshop hosted by the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Now in its 6th year, The Law and Youth offers an opportunity for youth to meet up with those who administer the law and discover how it works and how youth can make better choices when engaged with the law.

Led by actress Kate Trotter and family and children’s lawyer, Jeffery Wilson, this one-day workshop includes a team of lawyers and judges who work with the registrants and enable direct interaction in various workshops and simulated exercises. The one-day workshop is free. Brief course materials and lunch are provided. Registrants receive a certificate at the completion of the day for presentation for credit at schools or facilities that have accredited the program. For more information or to register, visit the conference website.

See Yourself Here: An Open House at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law

See Yourself Here provides high school, university and mature students that come from diverse backgrounds with an opportunity to learn about the law school admission process and the legal profession. Participants attend inspirational speaker sessions, educational workshops, and a networking reception with law students, alumni and members of the legal community. See Yourself Here began as an initiative by the Black Law Students’ Association to target black youth, and has since expanded to include law students and participants from a broad range of equity-seeking communities that have historically been underrepresented in legal education and the profession. Register online.

Participating students attend the LEAF Person’s Day breakfast, which commemorates the 1929 Persons Cases that ruled that women are persons under the law, and brings together 1000 professionals from the legal, business, academic, and not-for-profit sectors. Students then participate in a mentor reception with the breakfast’s keynote speaker, visit the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto and a local law firm.

This day-long event is free, with lunch provided. It is open to all high school girls, but limited to four from each high school. For registration information, please visit OJEN’s website.